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English Social Conversation @East and West Learning Connections 2023

 *We are constantly recruiting native English-speaking facilitator volunteers for the English Social Conversation program! Please see the invitation message at the end of this announcement.

 Have you ever wondered what to talk about in a social conversation? Or, as an immigrant, do you sometimes feel it is difficult to join your local co-workers’ conversation because you don’t know the people or things they are talking about, or you have some everyday questions that you would like to know how local people would think or deal with? Or do you just want to find a safe, relaxing and friendly environment to talk to some native English speakers, and enjoy a pleasant conversation?

Continue reading “English Social Conversation @East and West Learning Connections 2023“

Featured

EAWLC Frank’s Dialogue with Berlin Fang: Effective Learning in the Age of Surplus/Frank对话方柏林：过剩时代的有效学习

This dialogue will be conducted in Mandarin.  For English introduction please jump to next heading in English.

Frank对话方柏林：过剩时代的有效学习

不用提社交媒体和电子游戏的干扰，单单是丰富的学习资源，各种纷纷涌现的机会，已经让这个年代的人应接不暇，于是我们把这个时代称为过剩时代。如何有效地学习是当下困扰人们的重要问题之一。在美国大学担任教育设计专家的方柏林博士，也是《过剩时代的学习》和《知识不是力量》等专著的作者。机械工程学博士Frank Wang 倡导终身学习，业余时间从事教育专栏写作，对新时代的学习方法和专注力培养等问题非常关注。二位嘉宾将作客东西联学社，就“过剩时代的学习”以及学者专家们倡导的一些新学习方式展开对话与讨论。

欢迎朋友们前来听讲、参与讨论，也欢迎提前将感兴趣的问题发给我们。

Continue reading “EAWLC Frank’s Dialogue with Berlin Fang: Effective Learning in the Age of Surplus/Frank对话方柏林：过剩时代的有效学习”

Featured

EAWLC Zoom Learning for Curious People: The Fitness Remedy

Shaoxuan Zhou (Joe), a professional architect and urban designer, came to our club in July of this year, giving a wonderful lecture on the appreciation of architectural designs.  Other than an architect, ‘Coach Joe’ is also a known nickname among his friends: they often go to Joe for fitness advice, some finding it life-changing.  It all started from a casual enrollment in a community gym in Beijing in 2005.  At the time Joe had been bothered by stomach ulcer and insomnia for years.  He even stopped his indie architecture design practice, spending most of the time on all kinds of sports in a hope to get his health back on the track, but had progressed very little.  To his great surprise, Joe saw remarkable improvement in all of his symptoms within one month after he started the workout, and felt like overhauled after three months.  Ever since then, Joe’s  fascination with fitness training has driven him to educate himself on kinesiology, and become an personal trainer for himself, families and friends, in addition to a happy, healthy and successful architect again.  Exercises, if done in a right way, is bound to bring life-changing benefits to your health, according to Joe, as he has witnessed himself!

Continue reading “EAWLC Zoom Learning for Curious People: The Fitness Remedy”

EAWLC Lunch Coaching Hour on Business Communication, 2026

Welcome to the 2026 EAWLC Lunch Coaching Hour Series on Business Communication!

This year, we’ll dive deeper into the nuances of Canadian business culture. What does professionalism really mean? Who are “stakeholders,” and how do I distinguish roles for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed? When should you present options vs. solutions? More importantly, how do you decode workplace dynamics, and cultivate the emotional and social intelligence required not just to survive, but to lead and thrive?

October topic: How to ask for, provide, and respond to feedback?

Register today and challenge yourself to think strategically about what will best support your career growth.

We need your ideas! Tell us what topic you would like Coach Ric to cover in future sessions: survey.

Continue reading “EAWLC Lunch Coaching Hour on Business Communication, 2026”

5 Poets Breaking Into Song #26: Neoclassicism Don’t Scare Real Jazz Composers!

Former national poet laureate                       George Elliott Clarke

Together with The League of Canadian Poets, The Canada Council for the Arts, Brenda Clews & The Tranzac Club, East and West Learning Connections, and Edward Wong   PRESENT

5 Poets Breaking Into Song: #26: Neoclassicism Don’t Scare Real Jazz
Composers!
Continue reading “5 Poets Breaking Into Song #26: Neoclassicism Don’t Scare Real Jazz Composers!”

哈哈大笑二三事 / A Few Recent Laughs

This article is written originally in Chinese.  For the English version, please scroll down or jump to the next heading.

哈哈大笑二三事

最近两次哈哈大笑，都是在去看我妈的时候。

 

老太太今年九十五岁，身体尚可，但有健忘症。我常常跟她一起背已故老爸写的一首《渔歌》，其中最后一段是这样的：“云淡烟微，夜幕低垂，犹恋提竿左右挥。长林鸟，也知归。两袖清凉风送我，多情明月照人归。”她后两句通常背得还不错，前面则需我读一句，她跟读一句。九月份某天，秋高气爽，我们坐在养老院楼下的花园里晒太阳、打牌背诗。我故意停下来，让她自己想。结果老太太憋出一句“长林鸟，左右飞”。我愣了一秒，旋即大笑。老妈也跟上，两个人好一会子都停不下来，一想到长林鸟们左右乱飞的画面，就忍不住哈哈大笑。 Continue reading “哈哈大笑二三事 / A Few Recent Laughs”

EAWLC Seminar with Paul Petrelli: Privacy in Canada Now

Saturday, October 17 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Come and join law expert and business executive Paul Petrelli, and explore privacy in Canada now.

For online participation, please register for Zoom meeting here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tVUxIyH4Rl6psgB-7BV0BA

Time: Saturday October 17, 2026 at 7:30-9 P.M. (Eastern Time)

In-person Venue: 1585 Yonge Street, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
Free parking; door opens at 7 P.M.

(Use the Toronto School for Strings and Piano entrance), close to St. Clair Subway Station We would appreciate it if you could send an email to info@eawlc.org to let us know that you are coming.

Free admission. English hybrid event. Learn more.

Notes for the 2026 Lunch Coaching Hour on Business Communication

September: How to be concise, when more data are needed, and how to read signs from other people

Being concise means organizing your thoughts more effectively. We can all learn to be more concise by trying the triangle formula – start with the headline, add a few ‘big picture’ details, and provide more specific details if asked.

Watch the recording and review the formula from this session, but most importantly, practice, practice, practice! Think about your main point before you speak, and when to stop as you speak.

I found this advice very useful and I plan to apply it at work: “Be thorough in your thinking. Be selective in your communication.“

Continue reading “Notes for the 2026 Lunch Coaching Hour on Business Communication”

EAWLC Sing for Unity 2026

Sunday, September 20 @ 12:30 pm

The EAWLC Creative choir participated in the very first Sing for Unity last year.  We sang together at the CNIB Hub , proudly becoming part of the global musical movement initiated from Denmark to celebrate unity, peace and community in connection with the UN International Day of Peace.

This year, we cordially invite everybody, young or old, men or women, to join us at an Italian restaurant in Toronto, and Sing for Unity together again!

RSVP required: Please send an email to info@eawlc.org to RSVP by Sept. 16.

When: Sunday September 20, 2026

Meet for Lunch at 12:30P.M.

Singing Time: 2:00 P.M. (Toronto time)

Where: An Italian restaurant near don mills and Yorkmills.  Address to follow upon RSVP.

, free parking, wheelchair accessible, guide dogs welcome, dietary restriction accommodations available.

Price range: around $20 – 30 per person, plus gratuity

Cost: For lunch we go Dutch; for singing it’s totally free!

What to sing:

Led by choir instructor and song writer Honey Novick, we’ll sing a couple of Canadian folk songs.  Lyrics will be sent to participants upon RSVP.

You are welcome to bring a song to the table, and we can try to play an “improv choir”!

For more information on Sing for Unity, click here:

https://www.singforunity.com
Click to Know More

EAWLC Book Talks with Keith Garebian and Jirair Tutunjian: Roots, Identities, and Canadian Contexts

Saturday, September 19 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Our Book Talks program invites authors to talk about their books, and facilitates Q&A where audience can ask their own questions.  As usual, books are available for purchase by cash or e-transfer to support the authors!

In this session:

Keith Garebian  will address his hybrid roots as half-Armenian, half Anglo-India Canadian, through the exploration of his vivid presentational style in poetry and in prose, by which he “reinvents” identities.

Jirair Tutunjian will talk about his new autobiographical book, Do Mice Drink Wine.  The book collects dozens of stories from his youth years in Jerusalem and his immigrant life in Canada, including the challenges and how he overcame them as he launched his career as a journalist and eventually becoming editor-publisher of a 650,000-circulation magazine and publishing the works of Canadian greats (writers, painters, photographers).  there’s a sense of humor streaking through most of the stories.  The book wraps up with tens of black and white photos of life covering the time from 1950’s to 1970’s, and the book cover is a painting by Cezanne.

  • Free admission.  English hybrid event.
  • Time: Saturday September 19, 2026 at 7:30-9 P.M. (Eastern Time)
Click here to view the event introduction

EAWLC Book Talks with Keith Garebian and Jirair Tutunjian: Roots, Identities, and Canadian Contexts

Our Book Talks program invites authors to talk about their books, and facilitates Q&A where audience can ask their own questions. As usual, books are available for purchase by cash or e-transfer to support the authors!

register
Continue reading “EAWLC Book Talks with Keith Garebian and Jirair Tutunjian: Roots, Identities, and Canadian Contexts”